


Breaking Point

by tawnwriter



Series: The Rise and Fall [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Akumatized Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Inspired By Tumblr, alya does not come across as a good person in this, be warned, ml class - Freeform, really nobody does
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-10
Updated: 2019-07-10
Packaged: 2020-06-26 00:59:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19757344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tawnwriter/pseuds/tawnwriter
Summary: Marinette has taken Adrien's advice, and stepped back from Lila's crusade. But when Alya destroys any traces of the friendship they'd once had, Marinette reaches her breaking point.Revealer will show them the truth of their ugliness.(Inspired by Vlosteen and their awesome animatic on Tumblr!)*Currently a oneshot, but likely to change.*





	1. Prologue

**Alya: Sorry girl, but I’m sick :( no birthday party this year i think**

**Marinette: Oh, Alya I’m sorry! Need me to get you anything? Maybe we can hang out once you’re better :)**

**Alya: Thanks, but Nora’s taking care of me. Sure, after school?**

**Marinette: OK! Feel better soon!**

Things were going well. Marinette had gotten up early for once, and was heading to school well before her usual time. She gripped Alya’s present in her hands - her poor friend had been too sick to celebrate her birthday the weekend before, and she hoped Alya had made a quick recovery so they could celebrate later.

She was on cloud nine walking up the steps into DuPont, and not even a grimace from Chloe slowed her down. 

The blonde settled for standing in her way instead.

“What do you want, Chloe?”

“You might not want to go to class, Dupain-Cheng. I mean it. Your ‘friends’ are gonna hurt you so-”

“My friends are my friends, and whatever you have to say I don’t believe it.” Marinette said fiercely, and she took off up the stairs before the girl could respond.

Chloe stared at her retreating back and shook her head, sending a silent apology her way. 

She’d tried.

As Marinette neared the classroom, raised voices made their way down the hall.

“That wasn’t kind, Alya!”  _ Adrien? _

“I don’t care, she deserved it!”

“Alya!” Nino sounded a little shocked, and Marinette paused just outside the door, looking in.

Alya sat with her arms folded, glaring at Adrien, whose back was to her but he sounded upset.

“Marinette didn’t deserve to not be invited to your birthday party! You told us she didn’t want to come!” Adrien scolded her, but Alya appeared to be paying little attention.

Marinette’s heart dropped to her feet, hands gripping her gift tightly.

“She’s a bully, and a liar! After everything she’s done to Lila, she deserves it.”

“ _ I’m _ a liar?!” She can’t contain her shout, and forcefully pushes open the classroom door.

Alya sneers in her direction.

“Yeah. You. You’re just like Chloe. A liar, and a bully, and a fraud.”

Each insult felt like ice in her chest, but the anger bubbling inside won out.

“Funny,” She says coldly, “Coming from the girl who told me she was too sick to celebrate. Funny, coming from the girl who lied to everyone about why I wasn’t at your party. Funny, coming from the girl who demands people check their sources without looking for any of her own.”

Alya glares, Adrien glancing wildly between the two.

“This again?” Alya spat, “Just because of your stupid, stalkerish crush you destroyed everything good. You deserve to be alone!”

With hatred in her eyes, Alya stalked to Marinette and ripped the present from her hands, tearing off the paper and scoffing at the gift inside. 

An orange and white scarf, with modified mittens that would let her use the touchscreen on her phone for the incoming cold weather.

Marinette had been working on it for months, carefully restitching the mittens to make them match the scarf perfectly.

And she could only watch as Alya ripped them apart.

Tears sprang unbidden to her eyes and she turned and sprinted from the classroom, ignoring Adrien’s panicked shout, Ms Bustier’s confused call, all of it. She collapsed in a bathroom stall, and sobbed.

She never noticed the butterfly land in a stray strand of wool she gripped in her hand.

_ Revealer, I am Hawkmoth. _

She stumbles out of the stall, hands bunched in her hair.

She doesn’t notice Tikki trying to calm her down. Doesn’t see the fear in the Kwami’s eyes, nor the regret when she removes the earrings and flees.

_ … So called friends abandoned you. A friends advice has led you astray. _

Right. He was right. None of this would have happened had she not listened to Adrien. He was right.

But she couldn’t give in!

_ Why fight, Revealer? They have proved their ugliness, why not make them see it for themselves?  _

_ I just want to help you, Marinette. _

She grips the sink with both hands, staring at the purple outline on her face in the mirror.

“...Help..?” She whispers, uncertain, looking down at her shaking hands, and the presence in her mind is reassuring, confident.

_ Look at them. Let me help you. _

She glances back at the mirror, and her reflection starts to morph.

Lila. A sly grin on her face and victory in her eyes.

_ She told you she’d take everything from you, and look what’s happened now. _

Alya. Cold and harsh, hands tearing the seams she’d worked so hard to perfect.

_ Betrayal. It stings, doesn’t it? _

…. Adrien. Calm and apathetic, removing himself from the equation.

_ Abandonment. How callous. _

_ Why defend them any longer? _

_ Let me help you get back what you deserve. All I ask in return are the Miraculous of Ladybug and Chat Noir. _

Yes. Why should she defend them? Everything they did, every way they hurt her comes flooding back into her mind, and her body stills. She stares at her tear-streaked reflection, and narrows her eyes.

“Yes, Hawkmoth.”

As purple light envelopes her, she smiles.

_ Let’s see how Paris fares without its Lady Luck. _


	2. Journalists and Foxes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A Journalist. A Fox. Certain Revelations.

Revealer gazed idly at her reflection. Her former clothes had been replaced with shimmering silver robes with a matching hood ,cut off just above her feet, which remained bare. Her hair was free of its usual pigtails, now gray and woven back into tight braids. Her hair ribbons were wrapped around her wrist, and as she idly twisted it they seemed to respond to her will. Her eyes were glassy, putting her world in a silver tint. The thread holding her Akuma had woven itself in a small handheld mirror, which she flipped open. The mirror warped slightly under her tinted sight. A floral vine snaked around the top of the mirror, morphing as she watched it into letters and a single, very much familiar name.

_ Alya Cesaire. _

A silver glow emanated from her mirror and snaked through the wall. Revealer closed her eyes and the classroom swam into view in front of her. Alya sat, stubbornly ignoring Nino and Adrien in front of her. Lila sat to her side, whispering into the girl’s ear. Revealer’s eyes narrowed, and she stepped out from the bathroom. A gasp rang out to her side, and she turned to see another student stare horrified into her eyes.

“You need not concern yourself,” Revealer spoke slowly to the frozen girl, “You are not the one I seek.”

She turned away, and began the slow, resolute march to her target. The few students in front of her darted away at the sight of her, but she barely noticed their presence - her target took up her entire focus.

Let them warn the heroes. It was doubtless that they would be targets of her mirror further down the line. Those who hid behind masks should always be among the first to be revealed.

It took her less than a minute to reach her destination, gentle gloved hands grasping the door and pushing it open, silencing the whispers and murmurs.

“Good morning,” She intoned, quiet and polite. “I have business here.”

The class froze at the sight, watching as the akuma waved her hand - and a silver ribbon shot out of her mirror and lifted Alya right out of her seat and to a position in front of the teacher’s desk.

Revealer stepped away from the door, pretending not to notice Adrien slip out. 

He could not hide from her mirror.

“.. Marinette?” Mme. Bustier’s voice is full of disbelief, and Revealer takes no small hint of pride that even Lila looks concerned.

“Not quite, I’m afraid. I am Revealer.” As she spoke, her mirror grew from a compact to a half-length mirror, and she spun it around for Alya to see her own terrified reflection. 

Alya’s eyes shifted to match the shimmering hue of the glass, and that seemed to prompt the class into action - Nino leapt from his desk and tried to tackle Revealer, but was snatched by a ribbon and tossed aside. The rest, scared to pass by her, scrambled to the back. She raised an eyebrow at them, and turned towards Alya.

“Alya Cesaire. You shall see yourself.”

The mirror surface twisted, showing Alya with a blindfold tight around her eyes and strings on her joints like a puppet. A familiar looking girl stood behind her, manipulating the strings and grinning.

“Is that … Lila?” Revealer heard the murmurs coming from the back of the room but ignored them, still intent on her duty.

  
“Alya Cesaire. Dishonesty and pride has taken its place in your heart over integrity. You hear a whisper of  _ more _ and strive for it, believing a stranger blindly and throwing away a friend who tried to open your eyes.” Revealer paused, looking away briefly. A ribbon snaked its way around Alya’s wrist, twisting tightly.

  
“I brand you prideful.”   
  


The ribbon glowed white and began to smoke slightly - Alya gasped and tried to jerk away, only to fall back when the ribbon released her. _ Prideful _ was seared onto her arm, and her eyes finally cleared. She immediately ran to Nino, and Revealer made no move to stop her. 

Her mirror returned to its compact form, and she waited for the mirror to reveal her next target.

As expected.

_ Lila Rossi. _

The glow alights on the target’s wrist, and the class subconsciously shift away from her. Revealer’s ribbon darted out and snatched her forward.

Her mirror grew once more, and she did not recall her ribbon. This one would not escape her.

“Lila Rossi. Now we will see you for who you really are.”

“L-Ladybug is on her way!” Lila said, eyes wide with panic. Revealer was distinctly aware of Alya filming, supported by her boyfriend.

“Another lie.” Revealer said slowly, shaking her head, “Ladybug will not be joining us today.”

She ignored the gasps of the class in favour of turning her mirror for Lila’s reveal.

  
  


“Lila Rossi. You shall see yourself.”

The mirror shifted to show Lila, with a sick and dangerous grin on her face. Her hands were up, showcasing her prizes - from each finger, dangled a classmate on strings.

“Lila Rossi. You are a liar. You are a deceiver. Sick and twisted, you lie to gain power and prestige. You lie to win the accolades built on the work of others. And yet, you have not poisoned some of the minds here, though they are your puppets and little more. For some, you simply encouraged what was already there.”

She pauses, deliberating the brand.

  
“Someone like you deserves a particular brand. I brand you Liar - and for every truth you do not reveal your brand will continue to burn. Repent or suffer, dear Lila.”

The mirror returns to its compact form once the brand is seared onto her skin, and she turns away as Lila gasps from the pain.

  
“Marinette, stop this! I know you’re upset, but that’s no reason to -”

A ribbon cuts off Mme Bustier’s shout, and she glares coldly at her former teacher.

“I am Revealer. She will be fine as long as she does not lie. She must reveal her truths.”

She leaves the room as the first truth drags itself past Lila’s lips, hearing Alya’s choked cry before the door shuts.

She sighs, and returns her attention to her mirror. The floral vine once again forms a name - the last she had seen in the mirror before she had been turned.

_ Adrien Agreste _

She feels the familiar pulse of the tracking glow, and begins to move towards it, but then it seems to bound forward, as though Adrien was moving quickly and without restraint. Unusual for what she knew of him, for sure, but not unwarranted. It seemed she did not need to go far to reveal her next target, after all.

But then, the glow jumps over her head, and she turns her head to see Chat Noir, watching her worriedly. 

Chat Noir, with the silver glow of her tracker wrapped around his wrist.

The tracker looking for Adrien Agreste.

She turns fully, then, and tilts her head.

“Hello, kitty.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *comes in 6 months late with Starbucks*
> 
> Hello! I'm sorry its been so long since an update - I have been focussing on finishing university and my grades have thanked me for it lmao
> 
> Hope you enjoyed!


	3. Cats, Reflection and True Targets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Revealer learns things about her partner, herself, and finally locks on to her true target.

Adrien Agreste. Chat Noir. One in the same.

An interesting development, to say the least, Revealer muses idly. And one Hawkmoth does not seem to be reacting to - her head is remarkably free of his influence.

“Marinette, we don’t have to fight. Give me the akuma, please.”

“I’m afraid not, kitty. I have a duty, and my mirror has called you behind the mask. It is time. Give in, and I will not hurt you.”

Chat’s whole form seems to slump slightly, but he brings out his staff anyway.

“Sorry, Marinette. But I won’t.”

“I know.” Her ribbon wraps itself around his wrist and throws him into the courtyard.

“And I am no longer Marinette, kitty. I am Revealer.”

She blocks his attacks and keeps him moving backward. A lucky shot allows her to snatch his baton and drag him to the rooftops. Moving quickly, she puts him under the lull of her mirror.

She twists the mirror around as his eyes go glassy. The mirror shows him, a hunched in figure on the fringe of an angry crowd.

“Chat Noir. Adrien Agreste. You have been naive, and afraid. You wanted to avoid her akuma without seeing that she had created the spark for one in all of your friends. In me. You try to force silence upon others because you do not understand the hurt a lie can inflict. You cannot even see that it is hurting you - you do not register it, because it has always been this way.’ 

Her ribbon snakes around his wrist, and she knows it will reach even through his suit.

“I brand you naive.”

His eyes clear as she retracts her ribbon, and he looks up at her, dazed.

“You must grow, Adrien,” she says as she turns, ignoring his gasp, “You are a hero, after all.”

And she leaps from the roof before he can regain his bearings.

* * *

It has been some time, Revealer thinks idly, and yet she has no new target.

She turns the mirror again, and yet the floral vine remains stubbornly still, and the mirror shows only her reflection. 

She stares out at the Parisian sky once more. Chat Noir has not found her yet, on this little rooftop, and it seems the public have not noticed her presence here either. She wonders idly if she will have to target him again. In and out of the mask.

Frustration builds in her gut, and she whips her mirror around, staring into her own reflection, the anger clear in her glassy eyes.

Ah.

She stands, and grips the compact in both hands.

“Revealer.”

The floral vine moves to form her title, and the familiar glow wraps around her wrist.

She sinks down to the surface of the rooftop as her mirror grows. She stares into the surface, and watches it change to show Marinette Dupain-Cheng, small and hunched over a sketchbook. Hiding her fatigue. 

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng,” She whispers, her voice shaky, “You .. No.  **I** hide behind a mask. Emboldened by it, I can protect, but I can also act rashly. I have been hurt. I have placed the weight of the city on my shoulders. I do not understand that the burden can be shared. I do not understand that the burden  **should** be shared.”

The ribbon snakes around her wrist, almost comforting.

“I brand myself Pillar.”

It burns, and tears come almost unbidden to her eyes, but once it fades she finds Paris no longer drenched in its silver tint. Her eyes are clear again, and she stands, her mirror returning to its compact size. 

She flips the mirror over, and the vine moves freely to brand her next target. Now she can clearly see, the target’s name is clear, and expected.

_ Hawkmoth. _

She concentrates, closing her eyes.

Hawkmoth has been strangely quiet in her head, and now she can see why.

Hawkmoth is Gabriel Agreste. He stands in a wide chamber - underground perhaps, her mirror calls her to his manor - a hand resting on the glass of a strange machine, a blonde woman inside. Adrien’s mother, she thinks.

She closes the connection, and begins to leap over the rooftops.

In the basement of the Agreste mansion, Gabriel feels a wave of anticipation from his Akuma and smiles. It’s going well, he thinks, placing a hand on his wife’s chamber and moving towards the elevator.

He fails to see the silver glow wrap gently around his wrist.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This arc will be continued in a seperate story, so keep an eye out!


End file.
